Bollywood music composer Vishal Dadlani on Wednesday met Jain monk Tarun Sagar and apologised to him in person for his sarcastic tweet on the spiritual figure that had stirred up a controversy last month.
Dadlani visited the Jain monk at his ashram here and apologised to him.
After the composer apologised as per the Jain community’s tradition of seeking "Panch Mafee" that included holding of ears, Tarun Sagar while talking to the mediapersons said though he had already forgiven Dadlani, now he would appeal to the community to forgive him and withdraw protest against him and treat the matter as closed.
Following his meeting with Jain monk, Dadlani said, “I apologised over Twitter 32 times and Tarun Sagarji also forgave me, but only thing is that I appeared in person now. I wanted to come personally earlier, but there was a FIR registered, so I did not want that people should feel that I have come here just because a case has been slapped against me.”
“I felt it from my heart that my remarks generated so much controversy and people felt hurt,” said he.
Clarifying his sarcastic tweet, Dadlani said. “What I had wanted to say is that religion and governance should not be mixed together. What people understood from that tweet of mine was unfortunate. It was not my intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. What I had said was as per Constitution, religion and governance should not be mixed because we are a secular nation...”
later, the music composer also shared an image on social media where he is seen holding his ears for forgiveness, and he is seen laughing away. To that, Dadlani tweeted, “I don't know why they can't see us laughing too! It was actually one of the best meetings ever. What a cool guy.”
Tarun Sagar has now appealed to the Jain community to forgive Dadlani. The Jain monk also appealed to those who had registered FIR against the composer to end the matter against him.
Notably, Haryana Police had last month booked Vishal Dadlani for making “objectionable” remarks against Jain monk. He was booked under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious lines) and 295-A (hurting religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code by the police in Haryana's Ambala city, following complaints received from the members of the Jain community and others.
Tarun Sagar, referred to as Maharaj ji by followers, was invited to address Haryana MlAs on the first day of monsoon session last month. He was the first religious preacher ever to address in Haryana Assembly.
Dadlani was critical of the address, suggesting that it reflected an unhealthy trend of religion colouring politics. “If you voted for these people, YOU are responsible for
this absurd nonsense. No #AchcheDin, just #NoKachcheDin”, he had Tweeted. He had posted a series of tweets on the address mocking Jain Guru for appearing nude inside the Haryana Assembly
However, following widespread condemnation, including from Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Dadlani had later removed his tweet and also apologised.